Approaching-Storm in Paradise

Approaching-Storm in Paradise
Originally uploaded by FreeRangeBob

This was my entry for the February invitation To Paint on Wetcanvas.
Watercolor on Yupo paper 8.5x11
I tried to represent a tranquil sunlit warm scene in paradise with an soon to arrive dark, turbulent maelstrom .
Perhaps, because I am buried in 2 feet of snow and -15 below zero degrees wind chill here, it is a sadistic metaphor to those living in paradise and my current mood.

Les Thomas, homesteader, Pie Town, New Mexico (LOC)

Les Thomas, homesteader, Pie Town, New Mexico (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

Lee came to Pie Town as part of an FSA project to document how the Depression had ravaged rural America. Or as the Magdalena News put it in its issue of June 6, 1940: “Mr. Lee of Dallas, Texas, is staying in Pietown, taking pictures of most anything he can find. Mr. Lee is a photographer for the United States department of agriculture. Most of the farmers are planting beans this week.”

I stumbled on photos taken by Lee in Pie Town,NM in 1940...mostly of homesteaders during the deprression. I find that perusing through the various photo from the Library of Congress ( access via Flickr) to be really addicting.....

Voom

I attended a terrific exhibit this weekend at the University Art Museum. The picture is from the exhibit and is Isabella Rossellii. The exhibit was the work of Robert Wilson who presented more that 30 celebrities and animals on over 50 high-definition plasma screens. A musical score accompanied each image. The museum had removed nearly all of the permanent collection to accomodate this exhibit.

Although each portrait is "moving pictures" most of the subjects are nearly immobile (breathing,eyes closing etc). Wilson limits his subjects' movements to one or two gestures in very controlled motion. The final products have undergone meticulous editing, and are looped so there is no discernable beginning or ending, creating an endless framed work of art. The effect is a riveting contrast between the still life and the real life. Initially, the final result may look like a still photograph. But then, the sitters perform a simple act — a small movement, a blink, a tap of the foot — and the experience of watching them changes entirely.

Many were based on historical works of art or movies. Wilson works closely with his human subjects to develop settings that recall iconic works of art, history, and popular culture. For example, Princess Caroline of Monaco strikes a starkly elegant pose reminiscent both of her mother, Grace Kelly, in the film “Rear Window,” and of John Singer Sargent’s portrait of “Madame X”; Winona Ryder is the main character, “Winnie,” in Samuel Beckett’s play “Happy Days”; and dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov is posed as St. Sebastian pierced by arrows. In addition, each work feature and individual soundtrack from musicians including Lou Reed, Tom Waits, Bernard Hermann, Michael Galasso, Big Black, and Bach as interpreted by Glenn Gould, Hans Peter Kuhn and Ethel Merman.

You can view the portrait of Brad Pitt here: http://www.voom.tv/robert_wilson/brad_pitt/